Chocolate Love...

It's Valentine's Day and many people of you are reaching for that tasty and sensual chocolate treat to give to your loved ones. Chocolate has long been associated with romance, but this seductive sweet has a bitter dark side you may not want to think about. This seductive treat has not seduced lovers alone, but those who prey on the innocence of others and lust after wealth. The irony is that chocolate -the happy and love induced sweet, is also source of pain and captivity.

There is a price for this dark and creamy treasure. In Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, children are often kidnapped from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in order to provide slave labor on cocoa plantations. In Bitter Chocolate, journalist Carol Off describes the conditions in which these child slaves work:

 “The farmers were working the young people almost to death. The boys had little to eat, slept in bunkhouses that were locked during the night, and were frequently beaten. They had horrible sores on their backs and shoulders… Farmers were paying organized groups of smugglers to deliver the children to their cocoa groves, while police were being bribed to look the other way.” These children are responsible for climbing cocoa trees, cutting down bean pods, and chopping them open with machetes, which leads to inevitable accidents. They are exposed to hazardous pesticides that they spray without protective equipment. They are fed corn paste and bananas, the cheapest food available, and they’re not paid.  When one former child slave was asked what he’d stay to chocolate-eating Westerners, he answered, “When people eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh.” Despite the fact that the cocoa industry’s awful human rights record is now public knowledge, “Big Chocolate” – Cargill, Nestlé, Hershey, Mars, Ghiridelli etc. – have not taken the necessary steps to guarantee that their products are slave-free. Many problems could be alleviated, or at least improved, if these companies paid their workers a living wage, one that is high enough to maintain a basic standard of living that includes education, health care, and savings.  A big part of the problem is that Western consumers love eating cheap chocolate so much that they don’t pressure the industry to change. Rather than being viewed as a rare, expensive treat, chocolate has become “a universal luxury – a reasonably priced frivolity for everyone, except those who’ve never heard of it or can’t afford to buy it. Ironically, that unenviable group includes the people who produce its most essential ingredient.” (Bitter Chocolate)

What can you do?  The first and easiest thing you can do is read labels. Fair trade is a decent option, as it ensures producers sell chocolate at above-market prices, generating extra income to improve community infrastructure and give a higher quality of life to farming communities. The downside is that certification can be very costly, and is often not affordable for small-scale operations- therefore sometimes you have to do a little research (but then again is that really such a big price to pay?). Please also keep in mind there is more than one label -in 2012, Fair Trade USA split from the International Fair Trade Organization.  There is also the Rainforest Alliance stamp, which ensures that farmers are growing cocoa in environmentally responsible ways – protecting shade trees, planting native species, maintaining wildlife corridors, conserving natural resources, and reducing pesticide use.

Chocolate: More and more retailers carry Fair Trade chocolate so just keep your eye out for the Fair Trade label as you shop.  You can also purchase special valentines gifts online including heart-shaped chocolates from Divine Chocolate, the sweet and spicy chocolate sampler from Equal Exchange, the Valentine’s Day Heart Box from Sweet Earth Chocolates and a full tub of chocolate hearts of cherry  or dark chocolate with raspberry bar from Sjaak’s.  Sweet Earth Chocolates Classic Red Velvet Box, ChocoDream Spreads, Kopali Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs, TCHO “My Heart’s Desire” Adigard 12-Bar Sampler, Alter Eco Dark Velvet Chocolate and sweetriot riotous riotBar gift set.  Why not reach outside the box and  try Kopali’s Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas.

Learn more and see what products are "safe" by reading our post from last year and checking out all the great resources and links: http://bridgetofreedomfoundation.blogspot.com/2013/02/make-sure-your-valentines-day-is-not.html?spref=tw

Fact: All I Want for Christmas are Fairtrade Gifts

According to Fairtrade International, “there are now 827 Fairtrade certified producer organizations in 58 producing countries, representing over 1.2 million farmers and workers.” Products under the Fairtrade mark range from popular items such as coffee and chocolate to less known items such as
flowers, which happen to be the fastest growing Fairtrade product. Proceeds from fair trade sales allow individual producers to meet sustainable costs of production and are often distributed to local communities for use in community development. Fairtrade International estimates that six million people directly benefit from Fairtrade.

Fair trade products can now be found in grocery stores around the United States and some companies known for their continued commitment to the Fair Trade movement include:

• Green & Black’s Organic Chocolates 

• Kaladi Coffee Roasters 

• Ben and Jerry’s 

• BloomQuest 

• Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 

For specific information on fair trade products in the U.S., please visit Fair Trade USA.

To help survivors of modern day slavery, please consider purchasing a gift for your loved ones from Better Way Imports. At checkout, in the comment box, enter "for Bridge to Freedom Foundation” to ensure a percentage of your purchase is donated directly to our programs.  Happy Shopping!

Fair Trade Shopping for Father's Day

Its the American way to look for a deal and a bargain, but does your bargain gift come with a price? Global March Against Child Labor estimates that one in every eight children from 5 to 17 years old, some 179 million, work in the worst forms of child labor. Slavery taints many of our consumer products such as clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, electronics, sports equipment, rugs, agricultural produce, sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, and many others. Often products, like clothing, may even be tainted at multiple points in the supply chain. For example children may have been used to pick the cotton of a shirt, while workers were held in situations of slavery and forced to sew the clothing.

Why not make your this Father's Day one that not only brings the joy of giving to the man who raised you, but is free from slavery and gives back to individuals and communities in need. Wouldn't Dad be so proud!

Slavery touches each one of us as a consumer, therefore take a stand against child and slave labor and work toward being a more conscious consumer and keeping slavery tainted products out of your home, today in just a few easy steps.

1. Donate to local organizations that help empower people out of poverty & slavery, many can be found here; Fair Trade and Slave Free Links, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Links, and Child Soldiers Links


2. Educate yourself about the companies that use slavery in the making of their products. Green America has a sweatshop free guide. Sweatfree Communities: Sweatfree Communities has a great shopping guide with a number of places to buy sweatshop-free apparel for men, women, and children. Fair Trade Federation: You can search their online directory for Fair Trade vendors in your area.


3. Become a more conscious consumer and buy products made by survivors of trafficking or Fair Trade products. Amanda Kloer summed it up easily with her list of 7 Ways to Fight Slavery at the Grocery Store and this years post on where to find gifts that help human trafficking survivors. You can also see the Fair Trade and Slave Free Links list, which has a number of resources and sites where you can learn more about, and purchase Fair Trade or slave free goods.

Shopping consciously is also a bit about thinking outside the box so to speak. there are a number of other ways you can seek to shop, slave free, fair trade, green, etc.

Make your own gifts or support local artisans, you can also search online for handmade items; Artfire.com has artists from around the globe selling their crafts and art supplies, Etsy features handmade and vintage items, Ebay has a number of used, one of a kind and vintage items and even has a specifically designed sight World of Good, as does sites like Geebo.

Remember to recycle and reuse as much as possible, for not only does it help us reduce waste and maintain fight global warming, you can also help reduce the consumption of slavery tainted goods. Shop your local vintage and charity shops.